What began as a routine application for an adjournment exploded into a courtroom confrontation on Monday, as two of Nigeria’s Senior Advocates squared off in a fiery exchange that briefly overshadowed the cyberbullying trial of activist and publisher Omoyele Sowore.<\/p>\n
For several tense minutes inside Court 7 of the Federal High Court in Abuja, legal fireworks replaced legal arguments, prompting repeated intervention from Justice Muhammed Umar, who eventually warned one of the country’s most respected silk that any further outburst could earn him a referral to disciplinary authorities.<\/p>\n
The confrontation unfolded shortly after the defence, led by Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN), informed the court that it was unable to proceed with its case despite the presence of a subpoenaed witness from the Department of State Services (DSS).<\/p>\n
The obstacle, he explained, was not the witness.<\/p>\n
It was paperwork.<\/p>\n
Standing before the bench, Fusika meticulously traced what he described as a frustrating paper trail. The defence, he said, had applied on July 22 for Certified True Copies (CTCs) of court records considered indispensable to its next line of questioning. Yet each visit to the court registry, according to him, produced the same answer: the trial judge had not approved the request.<\/p>\n
Then came the twist.<\/p>\n
The defence later discovered that Justice Umar had actually approved the application five days later, on July 27.<\/p>\n
“Obviously,” Fusika submitted, directing his remarks to the court, “the fault is not from Your Lordship’s end. It is a registry issue.”<\/p>\n
He insisted the documents were foundational to the continuation of the defence and argued that proceeding without them would compromise his client’s case.<\/p>\n
But prosecuting counsel Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN) was in no mood for another postponement.<\/p>\n
Rising immediately in opposition, Kehinde accused the defence of dragging out proceedings in “dilatory tactics” and keeping a criminal trial on the court’s docket longer than necessary.<\/p>\n
His voice firm, he reminded the court that both sides had previously agreed that a nominated DSS officer would appear to testify. According to him, the prosecution had fulfilled its part of that arrangement.<\/p>\n
The witness, he said, was already seated in court, prepared to testify regarding Exhibit DWD.<\/p>\n
If the defence lacked the documents it requested, Kehinde argued, responsibility rested squarely on its shoulders.<\/p>\n
The applicant, he maintained, had a duty to pursue its application diligently instead of arriving on the hearing date without the required records.<\/p>\n
Then came the prosecution’s most forceful request.<\/p>\n
Kehinde urged Justice Umar to shut the defence’s case altogether.<\/p>\n
Repeated adjournments, he argued, had stretched the court’s patience. The Constitution, he reminded the court, guarantees an opportunity to be heard – not an endless opportunity to delay proceedings.<\/p>\n
The submission immediately drew an equally robust response.<\/p>\n
Fusika rejected every allegation of delay.<\/p>\n
The prosecution, he argued, had ignored the facts entirely and instead sought to paint the defence as deliberately obstructive.<\/p>\n
If delaying the trial had truly been the objective, he contended, the defence could easily have insisted on compelling the appearance of the DSS Director-General, whose attendance had earlier been sought through a subpoena.<\/p>\n
Instead, he maintained, the defence had acted responsibly.<\/p>\n
How, he asked in substance, could counsel possibly know the exact date the judge approved an application when the only information available came from the court registry itself?<\/p>\n
Turning to the legal foundation of his argument, Fusika relied on Sections 4 to 13 of the Evidence Act, insisting that the requested documents were material to the defence’s intended examination of witnesses.<\/p>\n
He also dismissed as “insulting” suggestions of “dilatory tactics” that the defence was deliberately wasting time, pointing to the considerable expense and effort involved in preparing for and attending repeated court sittings.<\/p>\n
Listening carefully to both sides, Justice Umar noted that since the prosecution had closed its case, the defence had called only one witness and had sought approximately four adjournments.<\/p>\n
Seeking to counter any suggestion of indolence, Fusika launched into a detailed chronology dating back to June 22, when he assumed conduct of the defence, attempting to demonstrate that every procedural step had been taken diligently.<\/p>\n
Then the atmosphere changed.<\/p>\n
As Kehinde rose once more to continue his submissions, Fusika cut in sharply.<\/p>\n
In a remark that instantly froze the courtroom, he declared that Kehinde was behaving more like a “persecutor” than a prosecutor.<\/p>\n
The words landed with immediate effect.<\/p>\n
Justice Umar swiftly intervened.<\/p>\n
The judge sternly rebuked the senior advocate, warning that any repetition of such conduct would attract referral to the appropriate disciplinary bodies.<\/p>\n
The courtroom, moments earlier alive with overlapping submissions and rising voices, fell silent.<\/p>\n
With tempers still simmering and the defence unable to proceed without the disputed documents, Justice Umar ruled that the hearing could not continue.<\/p>\n
He adjourned the matter until September 20, 2026, for continuation of the defence.<\/p>\n
The latest courtroom drama comes after an earlier sitting at which the defence withdrew its subpoena compelling the Director-General of the DSS to testify, following the prosecution’s argument that the evidence sought had already been admitted twice during the trial.<\/p>\n
The Federal Government is prosecuting Sowore on a two-count charge of cyberbullying over social media posts in which he allegedly described President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal” on X and Facebook. Sowore has pleaded not guilty, and the trial continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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